Despite a pair of disappointing losses to Trinity College and Bentley College, the Brandeis University women's tennis team took to the court Tuesday and triumphed over Wellesley school Babson College by a 5-4 margin. Not only were the Judges victorious that day, they tarnished the Beavers' flawless 10-0 fall record by handing Babson their first loss of the season.
Although the ultimate result of the match was positive, the Judges got off to an inauspicious start. The doubles bracket ended with a dominant performance by the visiting Beavers, who took each of the three matches for a 1-0 lead. Head Coach Rocky Jarvis' first doubles tandem of Jane Chae '05 and Abby Lerner suffered a tough loss to Babson's Erin Seo and Francesca Russo 8-6, while Brandeis' Jennifer Krueger '07 and Christine Clancy '06 were defeated by Babson's Samantha Wong and Co-Captain Shannon McCarthy (8-3). Shani Reich '06 and Judges' third singles player Ora Wexler '04 succumbed to Babson's Daniela Hoffer and Co-Captain Andrea Fang (8-2).
Just as the Beavers began to get comfy on the Brandeis courts, the Judges came back swinging with five singles victories.
At sixth singles, Katie Albert '04 took the first step to a Brandeis victory when she crushed her Babson opponent Cassie Kao, 6-1, 6-0. Following Albert's lead, Chae played with brilliance and captured a 6-3, 6-0 win over Babson's McCarthy at first singles.
The Judges' only lapse came when Babson's Fang did some damage against Wexler, winning 6-1, 6-0. Lerner stopped the bleeding when the Brandeis Co-Captain defeated Babson's Hoffer at second singles 6-3, 6-3.
Finally, as the match fell into the hands of Brandeis' Reich and Krueger, the Judges' fate was all but sealed. At fourth singles, Reich played her part by toppling the Beavers' Russo in two tense sets 7-6, (7-5), 6-3. Krueger struggled a bit at the start of her match, dropping the first set 2-6, but she promptly settled into her competitive mode and conquered Babson's Wong, 6-2 and 7-5 in the remaining two sets.
After the win over Babson, the women had to prep for their Newitt Women's Intercollegiate Tennis Tourney at Amherst College. Brandeis' top three players, Chae, Lerner and Wexler, qualified for the highly-competitive tournament. In the fist singles bracket, Chae came out on top in both her matches in the first and second round. In the first round, Chae crushed Wellesley's Hana Freymiller 6-1, 6-1 and continued her stellar play by taking out Salve Regina's Michelle Kennedy 6-0, 6-2 in the second round.
In her first round match, Lerner earned a solid 6-0, 6-1 victory over Jamie Weiss of Wheaton College (Mass.) in the second round. Wexler had an easy time with her quick 6-0, 6-0 victory over Alicia Wells of Salva Regina College.
On Saturday, Chae reached the quarterfinal round, handily defeating Tufts' Jennifer Lejb, 6-3, 6-1. Unfortunately for Brandeis, Chae then fell to Amherst College number one Rachel Holt. Although Chae won the first set 6-3, she faltered and allowed Holt to capture 12 of the match's last 20 games.
Lerner was defeated by Tristan Hedrick of Amherst 6-3, 6-4, while Ameherst's Kristena Raverta defeated Wexler.
In the quarterfinals of the doubles bracket, Brandeis' elite doubles pair of Chae and Lerner demolished Middlebury College's tandem of Spring and Ross, 8-6.
Chae reflected on the way the Judges pulled together to put forth a strong effort in Amherst. "This weekend was truly memorable," she said, "because it showed the importance of teamwork and unity as an integral part of success."
"With the absence of Jen and Shani," Chae continued, "we all knew that each one of us had to pick up our games, and everyone in the lineup this weekend did just that and more. Words cannot express how proud I am of my teammates.